bangs? >> i'm sorry. >> her bangs. what is she guest starring on "the new girl." when she finally gets those bangs cut, she's going to be like, i can see at last. thank god almighty i can see at last. >> dr. king. >> relax, i'm joking around. >> thanks so much for starting your morning with us. we have much more ahead on "cnn sunday morning" which starts right now. good morning, everyone. i'm randi kaye. 7:00 on the east coast and 4:00 a.m. on the west. we begin this hour with breaking news out of brazil where a night club fire has killed 90 people, but that number could go higher as more details come in. the fire is eerily similar to the station nightclub fire in rhode island almost ten years ago. 100 people died in that blaze

after pyrotechnics set that building on fire. most victims were trampled to death or died from the smoke. for more on the fire in brazil, i'm joined on the phone by chasta darlington who is there for us. what do we know right now? >> well, randi, you brought up important points. what we found out from officials on the scene from firefighters, is the vast majority of the people that are pulling out of the rubble did die of smoke inhalation. they aren't finding charred bodies and they aren't feep finding people who were killed by the fire itself. some people couldn't find the exit in the darkness. there was a pyrotechnics show going on, but the people we talked to said they don't think that is causing the fire. they say the investigation is just beginning but the insulation caught on fire and filled the establishment with

smoke. a huge nightclub that could fit up to 300,000 people. they do say that the death toll will likely be over 90 by the time they pull the bodies out and they count them. of course, a lot of injured at the three hospitals in this city of southern buzil called santa maria. i talked to one of the hospitals and they said they had over 50 people, but they didn't know the exact number, randi. >> some local reports tying this to a similar cause from the rhode island fire, the station nightclub fire all those years ago where the pyrotechnics set off this sound proofing foam that was lining the walls and the ceiling. but, again, you have spoken to people there and any survivors who can help figure out how this started or shed some light on it? >> there are survivors. i think it's still the situation of panic and chaos. what the director of the civil defense, the regional director told me, this is a nightclub. it's dark.

you have lights and as soon as the fire goes up, all the lights go out. no one can see where the fire was and people were running into each other. they don't know whether or not the emergency, fire emergency went into effect, but they know people couldn't see and running in all the wrong directions, randi. >> can you tell us about the crowd that would be in this sort of nightclub. the ages of the people there. how old might they be? >> from what we heard, randi, a very popular among young people. this is a city at the very tip of brazil down near and this is the summer season here. people are not in school. they're going out a lot. it's a popular time to be out and about in these beach towns and now, of course, at the nightclubs, randi. >> shasta darlington, thank you very much. if you get any more information

on that, be sure to bring it to us. a deadly clothing factory fire has killed seven workers, all of them women. they were trampled to death or jumped to their death from the second floor. a first floor exit was locked and there was no fire alarms. two months ago, more than 100 people died in a similar clothing factory fire in beng u bangladesh, as well. a battle against islamic militants. help with aerial refueling missions. france has a few thousand troops in the land locked nation which used to be a french colony. they're fighting islamists who seized the northern part of the country. they're accused of atrocities as well as banning music and drinking and even watching sports. back here at home, an ice storm making its way through the midwest. the latest winter storm pushing through the plains towards the great lakes. it's leaving as much as a half inch of ice on roads, trees and power lines. heavy snow, aapparently, also possible.

so, let's bring in meteorologist samantha mohr on where the system is headed. good morning. >> a winter mess across much of the country, including, of all places, arizona. phoenix is the valley of the sun. yesterday top ten rainfall in recorded history in phoenix, as they saw over an inch of rain. you say one inch of rain, that's not that much. typically they only get eight inches a year. definitely a deluge there and that snow will drop to around 5,000 feet tonight. here's the problem. here's the freezing rain element of this system. moving in through st. louis right now, they haven't recorded any freezing rain yet, but we anticipate in the next hour likely see some slick surfaces here. freezing rain warning in dubuque. could see half an inch of frozen ice on the roadways. here is st. louis. the wintry mix is starting to push in right now. be careful if you're heading out this morning, especially on the

overpasses and bridges. they tend to freeze first. chicago will also likely see this freezing rain moving in and they have a freezing rain advisory and could see around a tenth of an inch of freezing rain there. as well as in milwaukee. and you can see it starting to show up. that light wintry mix starting to show up on the radar. wintry weather all across the midwest into the twin cities and chicago and, of course, all this slick stuff pushing to the east as we head into today and into the day tomorrow. here is your future radar. expecting to see that wintry mix moving into chicago as we head towards dinnertime and then heading through the great lakes as the overnight hours just click away and we'll end up seeing this wintry mix moving in to cleveland, pittsburgh and early morning hours and then during the day tomorrow and new york city. so, be careful whether you're driving or walking, there is likely going to be slicked spots on the sidewalks, as well. should turn to rain once we get into the overnight hours. then we see big changes.

frigid air is out of here and high pressure building on in and that will end up warming us up dramatically. temperatures doubling as we head into the next few days. mid-70s in wichita and then all that warm air pushes to the east and we warm it up in the ohio valley as we head into tuesday and by the middle of the week, big changes here. just hang in there, you'll be able to thaw out once we get to wednesday, randi. >> the light at the end of the tunnel. thank you very much. as samantha mentioned that midwestern ice storm is headed to new york tomorrow and that means more misery for victims of super storm sandy. more than three months after the monitor hurricane many residents still do not have power. they're not back in their homes. our national correspondent susan candiotti caught up with one family that is battling the cold and a whole lot of red tape. >> three months into the cleanup following superstorm sandy, a lot of people are still waiting for repairs. and now they have this wintry blast, it's just adding to their

misery. now, for some, their heat and power has been turned back on, but for others, well, they're still living with family or friends and still more are living in hotels or apartments being paid for by fema. now, the owner of this house is in a battle with the city. they say it can be repaired and other experts telling her it needs to be demolished. she told us how tough it is on her family. >> it's hard. it's been emotionally hard from the beginning. you first have the shock and you don't realize what's going on and then you basically go through the motions of what you need to do and what you have to do and all the red tape. >> it's just, i just can't take this any more. i just want my mom. i just wish my mom doesn't have to fight with the insurance companies and -- >> it's okay. >> i wish i could just get back

in my house. >> all of this can be so emotionally devastating, especially for children. and then as you walk around staten island, you still see things like this. dotting the landscape. another sign that the cleanup has a long way to go. >> susan candiotti, thank you very much. this morning, the hacked website of the u.s. sentencing commission is back up and running. and the fbi's handling the case as a criminal investigation. the site was shut down for a few hours yesterday after the group of anonymous took over the page. the hackers made it known it was payback for the suicide of aaron schwartz. she was facing federal computer fraud charges. an iowa democrat who has served nearly 30 years in the senate said he will retire next year. senator tom harkin is 73. he told the "des moines register" he felt it's somebody else's turn. he was praised for his work with health care reform and

education. to new york now and a major gift from mayor michael bloomberg. he is giving $350 million to his a alma mater john hopkins. bloomberg has given more than $1 billion to the school since he graduated in the mid-1960s. a big sales job for democrats aiming for new gun laws, but is the strategy targeting gun owners? will it backfire? we'll take a look. don't just reject convention. drown it out. introducing the all-new 2013 lexus ls f sport. an entirely new pursuit. progress-oh! -oh! -oh!

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good morning, washington, d.c. take another look here if you're not in front of your television, you better get over there. you want to see this. look at that capitol building. lovely pink sky behind it. the sun coming up. boy, does that look beautiful? yes, we know things can get a little ugly inside that building, but certainly looking pretty nice on the outside this morning. glad you're with us here on "cnn sunday morning." gun control advocates are hoping a weekend protest in washington will bring some real changes. thousands of protesters marched on the national maul yesterday. some held up the names yesterday of victims of gun violence. survivors of mass shootings also there. protesters are calling on congress to reinstate the ban on military-style assault weapons and require universal background checks. some came to show their support for newtown victims. >> newtown just tore my heart out.

honestly, didn't feel this emotional since 9/11. >> across the street from that rally, a smaller group of gun rights activists protested against new gun control measures. gun control advocates hope that rally would show lawmakers the support out there for gun control laws, but as cnn joe johns reports democrats have their own strategy to get those new laws in place. but is it a winning strategy? >> in the uphill battle to sell the assault weapons ban, both vice president biden and democrats in congress are making one thing loud and clear. >> the bill protects hunters and sportsmen by protecting 2,200 specifically named weapons used for hunting or sporting purposes. they are by make and model exempted from the legislature. >> reporter: the board is to get hunters onboard early by making sure their guns are safe. >> none of us want to take away

the hunting rifle that uncle tommy gave you when you were 14 years old. we don't want to dothat. >> reporter: seen by some pro-gun rights activist a strategy to splinter the nra constituency and persuade members of congress from pro gun parts of the country to sign on. >> the ability of a member, particularly one struggling with what they think of difficult, as difficult politics back home, the ability of that member to go home and have that factually based conversation with people in the audience who may start off angry but get them to feel better when they know their gun and their shooting buddy's gun are protected makes a big difference. >> reporter: here's the problem. for the growing number of sport shooters who use so-called assault weapons and extended magazines at firing ranges or for hunting, they wouldn't be able to buy ar-15s or rifles any more. >> most sportsman are using some other type of weapon, they're also recreational shooters and

many of them engage, myself included, in the shooting of an ar-style reefl rifle. >> reporter: it's clear the national rifle association isn't getting on board with any of this. as executive vice president wain lapierre said in a speech this week. >> we defend ourselves and our families with semi automatic firearm technology. >> reporter: which raises doubts whether the proposal can pass in congress. biden and others have a fall-back position, focusing on magazines and ammunition instead of the weapons themselves, which could affect hunters and sports shooters. >> i am much less concerned, quite frankly, what you call an assault weapon than i am about magazines and the number of rounds that can be held in a magazine. >> reporter: one question is whether the so-called divide and conqur strategy is working in order to get support for the assault weapons ban. their survey of 1,000 members

which was done a month after the newtown shooting showed the vast majority of respondents opposed to banning semiautomatic weapons. joe johns, cnn, washington. a picture perfect kidnapping and dark secrets uncovered. "new york times" best selling author lisa gardner gives us an inside peek at her latest mystery, "touch and go." how does this thing work? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve great rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice.

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with the bitterly cold weather across the u.s., it might be a good time to just stay inside, grab a cup of hot cocoa and a mystery novel. if you're on the hunt for a new one, look no longer. "touch & go" the best selling novel from lisa gardner. a gripping psychological

thriller about a family and a detective on the hunt to find them. i'm joined by the novel's author lisa gardner from new york this morning. good morning to you. >> good morning, randi. thanks for having me here. >> i'm about 150 pages into this book and i'm pretty scared. one review, which i can definitely relate to, a socks off thriller. certainly a compliment. i guess that is what you were trying to do here. >> i love taking a very fun premise like kidnapping an entire family and then how do you unspool it from there and the case of "touch & go" we start with that classic, how well do you know your neighbors, what really does go on behind closed doors? the demby's are that family on your block that seem to have it all until three masked men break into their house and hold them at an abandoned prison. >> it's getting pretty intense. i'm trying to figure out exactly

who is behind it. but where does your inspiration come from? how do you think of these characters and think of these plots? >> i love doing the research. i think the coolest thing about being a suspense novelist is the opportunity to go out and play with law enforcement experts and the case of "touch & go" i got to visit a federal prison built in new hampshire and one thing the book talks about is in this real world day in age a budget crises will build $250 million state of the art facilities, but then we don't have the funds to open them. there really are some massive correctional facilities out there not being used for suspense novelists like me, that's the perfect opportunity for murder and mayhem. >> you go out there and do the leg work and talk to investigators as if they were working a case like this? >> absolutely. i also spent some quality time working with the new hampshire county sheriff's department. i never worked with a small town sheriff before and the reach they have in an area like new

hampshire which is very rural and your drive time to get to a crime and to have backup. generally when i interview law enforcement, most real detechives, police officers will tell you they don't draw their weapons on the job. that's something us suspense novelists do. i go to talk to new hampshire county sheriff department and first time on the job, four times a year because they're alone and often in rural situations. it was the wild west of policing. but, again, in this day in age and i love learning about these experiences and bringing them to the reader. >> if you look, though, at the "new york times" best seller list it's nearly half mystery novels. what do you think about this genre that people love so much. you get into a book like this and you can't put it down. is there something more? >> i think one of the best things about thrillers is the vicarious thrill. we're all drawn to the puzzle of them. in the case like "touch & go" on the one hand this family has

been kidnapped, but why? there is no ransom and no known enemies and that kind of puzzle when something bad happens to good people, how can that be and why does that happen? i think it's fascinating both in our fiction, but, again, also in this day in age when we turn on the news at night and we're like, how could something like that happen and that appeal brings us back. >> you don't have any firemen in your family, right, you just ended up as a best selling mystery writer? >> i started when i was 20 years old and that's all why i go out and spend days playing with the sheriffs and abandoned prisons and i went to the fbi academy several times and if you're interested in crime and police procedure at all, just like an unbelievable experience. so, and then i have a paperback out now, "catch me" where i got to spend quality time with 911

dispatchers. to hear their day-to-day experiences. i mean these 30 seconds of such intense phone calls with someone in crisis and then the call ends and the next call comes in. it was really amazing the work that they do. >> i'm sure it was. great to see that first hand. i'm really enjoying the book and it's a great read. lisa gardner, thank you so much. we wish you much success with "touch & go." >> thank you, randi. the slopes in switzerland. so, what can skiing teach us about money? well, we'll sort it out. but, first, let's check in with dr. sanjay gupta for a look at what's coming up . >> i'm going to share a big investigation into the safety of flame retardant chemicals that are almost everywhere we turn. they may not work as advertised. i'm talking to hannah storm that talks about a serious accident that left her with

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25 minutes past the hour. top stories right now. watching a developing story in brazil. as many as 90 people may have been killed in a nightclub fire in santa maria. the death toll could still rise as officials go through the burned out building. the fire may have been started by pyrotechnics inside the club. much more on this story at the top of the hour. the midwest is waking up to ice and freezing rain this morning. the latest winter storm pushing through the plains towards the great lakes. it's leaving as much as a half inch of ice on roads, trees and power lines. heavy snow, also, is possible. the system is headed to the northeast. look out where sleet and snow are expected to impact the monday morning commute.

but guess what, it's not all bad. a surge of warmer air is expected behind the storm. the world economic forum is wrapping up today in davos, switzerland. a major meeting on money and global economic strategy. they are talking about policies and profits and while we are talking about risk and reward in a way only richard quest could. watch this. >> reporter: on the mountain, risk is everywhere. the lessons. he has been a ski instructor for years. he knows that on the mountain and in the global economy, it's all about balance. >> you have to move with the bump and take it like swallow the bump when it's coming towards us. >> reporter: so far, we've navigated the bump of the fiscal cliff. now, we must negotiate the debt ceiling. high unemployment, social

unrest. again, we learned from the mountain. baby steps to build confidence. >> if we ski slowly, we feel what we are doing and then we get confident and we get faster and faster. >> reporter: but economic growth seemingly won't go faster. there's always the risk in the global economy that something goes wrong. snowboarders are like central bankers. they have their own way of shredding down the mountain. for bankers, it means printing money. it's brutal economics. >> what's the secret to snowboarding? >> don't be scared. >> reporter: you pick up speed too quickly and you end up falling over. >> come on. that's why you need to move.